Lindell Audio LiN2A

And the original Buzz Audio SOC 1.1 two channel is still a great compressor.  Here is one on reverb (do not know the seller), and perhaps with an offer it could be had for less.  This puts it at a competitive price with the Lindell per channel:

reverb.com/item/63365528-buzz-audio-soc-1-1-compressor-stereo-or-dual-mono

(Vintage King also has a used one.)

Martin John Butler, If you are going for the LA2A sound, I highly recommend the Audio-Scape Opto.  I have one here and it’s gorgeous sounding; thick, open, and vibey. Yes, it’s a little more expensive than the LiN2A.  I also have their VComp, but find that more specific. I can run a vocal through both for you if you’d like. 

I think plug-ins can do a good job, but there is something more three dimensional about hardware. That said, you are always better off getting a good piece of hard ware than going cheap.  For plugins, I think the UAD LA2A Grey is very good.  For a cleaner take, the Softube Summit TLA100 is one of my favorites, and the one piece of outboard gear I’m really pining for. Lol. Arturia has a really nice STA Level plug. 

I know this doesn't matter in the slightest, but I actually really like the looks of that Lindell piece. Very classy.

That aside, Martin John Butler, I feel like it's pretty hard to go wrong with an LA2A or LA3A. I had the Golden Age LA3A copy for a few years and it was almost impossible to mess up — even if you went way overboard, the worst that would happen is it would maybe sound a tad too over compressed, and you'd get occasional spikes on abrupt transients (easily resolvable with a quick edit).

But you had to SERIOUSLY abuse it to get to that point. In general, you could pretty much slam it and it'd be fine. An LA2A will obviously be a little slower, but even then, you can still push them pretty hard.

Just stumbled across the LIN2a while googling around, hadn't seen it before. Then I found this oldish thread.

Just out of curiosity, did anybody end up trying one out? how did it sound? Anyone compared it with some proven great units? I'm not looking into buying one. Just curious as a huge La2a fan. Interested in hearing how new units on the market compare, especially as there are fewer opto clones out there than fets.

The Lin Audio is an INCREDIBLE value, and sounds MUCH better than the Warm or KT, even sounds snappier (a feat for an optical!) than the Universal Audio teletronix clone.

What else would you consider? like Vincent said, the Audioscape Opto is also an incredible value.

And don't forget the stam SA2a. The original. I have three different T4 cells for one, 2 from Bill at Kenetek. And WOWZERS, that makes a big difference!

So it seems to me you have threee great options for under a grand. And all three will tick every box when it comes to vocals, bass and even DI guitar.

Is 500 series out?

Well those Aphex VCA’s sure don’t sound slow or sloppy 😁.
I think VCA “ modern in the sense that every modern studio has a SSL Bus comp clone across the 2 bus.
Yeah this is exactly what a phone call between me and Ward is like.

Not sure if you’re looking at 500 series, but this is a good one to consider. Check out the Tegeler Vocal Leveler. It’s a 500 series, but sounds really good and hard to mess up. There is one for $600 on Reverb right now.

THAT Corp solved most of the practical problems with VCAs. The problem is the typical VCA compressor designers and manufacturers have always just used canned simple sidechains including DBX and SSL while Aphex, GML, and the various "auto" compressors used much more complex methods. Unfortunately both digital and analog want to be ersatzes of over 50 year old technology now while the better or more controllable stuff is harder to find or discontinued.

It's the same as most feedback compressors usually beating feedforward in the real world. Feedforward can emulate feedback and provide even better control if you have consistently behaving parts like VCAs. That just puts the onus onto the designer in the sidechain and most of the simple solutions they came up with beyond a dbx 160 sounded like shit with fixed time constants and single capacitor smoothing filters; there was no self-correction of the control circuitry.

A big part of this is outside of recording there is no demand for VCA’s with the advent of digital. Gone are the days of giant digitally controlled analog matrix’s or Midas XL series with a VCA on every Channel. The lack of large scale demand means very little money in developing the next generation of VCA’s for a company like THAT.

Since receiving my $102,000 medical bill, and having to pay for 20% of that, I've been using the UA 176 plug-in. Damn, it's REALLY good. The Retro 176 is becoming my GAS compressor lately.

This feels like a direct attack against the Rupert Neve 543 . Or was it against the Tonelux TX5C?